The crowd finally witnessed the sheer lethality of Claire's sharp tongue.
"I never thought that!" Levi hastily defended himself.
Claire scoffed, completely unconvinced. "If you never thought that, why are you twisting the facts?"
"Does my rejecting Sloane automatically count as humiliating or disrespecting her?"
She turned her sharp gaze to Sloane. "What do you think, Sloane?"
Sloane had been dreading this exact moment.
Nothing good ever came from being singled out by Claire.
"Don't overthink it, Claire. I never felt disrespected by you," Sloane replied smoothly.
"Since you already had plans and chose to honor them, it just proves you're a person of your word."
"I could only be happy for you. Why would I hold it against you?"
Noticing Levi's pale expression, Sloane added, "Levi was only acting on my behalf. Could you do me a favor and let him off the hook this once?"
"He didn't mean any harm."
Claire had to admit, Sloane certainly had a way with words.
With the campus princess lowering herself to beg for mercy, a guy like Levi would happily walk through fire for her now.
Sure enough, Levi looked so touched that his eyes actually grew red.
He puffed up his chest to protect her. "Sloane, don't lower yourself to beg her for my sake."
"I admit I was wrong here. If Claire wants to call the police, I'll..."
The bravado instantly evaporated from Levi's voice.
He came from a solidly middle-class family. He was nothing but Sloane's lapdog, painfully aware that he was out of her league.
Sloane was never going to choose him.
He had no powerful connections. If Claire actually pressed charges, Levi had no idea what kind of legal nightmare he would face.
Claire had bragged about having experience locking people up. Would she actually throw him behind bars?
As Claire remained chillingly silent, true panic finally set into Levi's chest.
This girl was ruthless enough to ruin a classmate without a second thought.
What would she do to him?
No, he was a student at The Cabinda
Universit
He was about to
l.ne
graduate with a bright future ahead
of him. He couldn't let some
freshman ruin his life!
Levi's mind raced frantically, desperately searching for someone who could save him.
His previous arrogance had vanished without a trace.
Claire could see right through him; Levi was a terrified coward at his core.
"What's going on here?"
Norris had originally come to the
cafe lunch with a colleague,
but seeing the massive crowd, he couldn't help stepping forward to investigate.
As a professor, he couldn't just walk away from a campus dispute.
"Who is that?" someone whispered, clearly not recognizing Norris.
It was obviously a freshman asking.
The crowd of onlookers had swelled,
but many medical students kept a low profile, afraid of drawing the Student Council's wrath.
.net>
Given Levi's notoriously petty nature, he was probably memorizing the faces of everyone enjoying his misery.
If he managed to survive this unscathed, he would absolutely make their lives a living hell later.
"You don't know him? That's the star of the math department, Professor Norris!"
"He's a professor at that age?" While some students educated the crowd, others remained in pure disbelief.
"Don't let his youth fool you. He's published more academic papers than guys twice his age."
"And don't let his looks distract you, he's a certified genius. His lectures are always packed."
Even other professors who audited his classes had to bring their own chairs to find a spot.
Some of the listening students twitched their lips in amusement.
How could they not be distracted by his looks? With a professor that gorgeous, of course, his classes were standing-room only.
"I've taken his class before. He's genuinely hilarious, not nearly as strict as he looks."
"Even if he was strict, who cares? I'd watch a guy that hot read the phone book!" Claire listened to the crowd's gossiping about Norris veer further and further off track.
If they kept talking, they'd probably start guessing the color of his boxers next.